Chapter Summaries

Luo Yi left Luo Village to follow the Duke of Pei, while Luo Cai decided to travel to help her brother and assess the Duke. Luo Xin escorted her out but chose to head east toward Qi Land, leaving the Luo siblings to pursue separate paths as the clan watched over its next generation.

• Luo Yi told Luo Ling he was leaving with the Duke of Pei, and Luo Ling gave him a life-saving trump card before their parting.
• Luo Cai told Luo Xin she intended to leave Luo Village because she worried Luo Yi lacked the abilities to succeed on his own.
• Luo Xin agreed to escort Luo Cai after securing their second brother's consent and arranging guards for her journey.
• Luo Xin explained that their fifth brother stayed behind to study the classics and devise rites, institutions, and an official system for the new dynasty.
• Luo Cai urged Luo Xin to accompany her west, but he chose to travel east through Jiangdong and Qi Land to assess the King of Qi and the King of Jiaodong.

Luo Yi helped Liu Bang recognize how his conduct could affect recruitment while reinforcing his special place in the camp. Meanwhile, Luo Cai’s armed escort broke up a battle and discovered Han Xin, who recognized her; the chapter then shifted to an unrelated passage about Wu Dao confronting demons in All Xia.

• Luo Yi praised Liu Bang’s spirit but warned that he could discourage less discerning talents, prompting Liu Bang to promise to rein in his temper.
• Xiao He explained to Fan Kuai that Liu Bang treated Luo Yi differently because of the prestige attached to the Luo Clan, then reconsidered his own plans.
• Luo Cai and Luo Xin parted at the Huai River, with Luo Xin urging Luo Cai to enter the Peach Blossom Spring if she faced danger.
• Luo Cai sent her Dare-to-Fight Warriors to stop two groups fighting and learned that Han Xin had commanded the smaller side.
• Han Xin reluctantly went to meet Luo Cai and recognized her voice when she greeted him from her boat.
• In a separate passage, Wu Dao resolved to slaughter the demons and monsters threatening All Xia and used his system to strengthen his abilities.

Luo Ling coordinated the Shandong coalition after Xiang Liang’s defeat by Zhang Han and traveled to Zhao Land to see the wounded Chu leader. Xiang Liang entrusted Xiang Yu’s future to Luo Ling and received reassurance that Chu could pursue the Mandate of Heaven, while Luo Ling prepared the allied armies to destroy Zhang Han.

• Luo Cai recruited Han Xin to follow her and meet the Duke of Pei, and Han Xin resolved to rise in rank and win her hand.
• Xiang Liang and King of Zhao Xie defeated Zhang Han in an initial battle, but pursued him into a trap and suffered a crushing defeat that left Xiang Liang gravely wounded.
• Luo Ling learned of Xiang Liang’s defeat, recognized Zhang Han’s deception, and ordered his forces toward Zhao Land.
• Xiang Liang asked Luo Ling to allow Xiang Yu to avenge the Xiang Clan against Qin’s royal family, and Luo Ling agreed if the consequences could be borne.
• Xiang Liang chose Xiang Yu as his successor and asked whether Chu could receive the Mandate of Heaven, and Luo Ling said that the people’s support determined it.
• Luo Ling outlined a coalition campaign to drive Zhang Han from Zhao Land while Xiang Yu led the Chu Army toward Hebei.

Luo Xin visited Pei County and met Lü Zhi, her children, and Lü Taigong, bringing news of Liu Bang’s growing power and Luo Yi’s service alongside him. Lü Taigong praised the Luo Clan’s role in sustaining rulers, and Luo Xin left with a stronger sense of Liu Bang’s remarkable rise.

• Luo Xin chose to visit Pei County while traveling through the former Qi territory, despite worrying about Luo Yi in Zhao State.
• Luo Xin introduced himself to Lü Zhi as a member of the Luo Clan, and she welcomed him warmly as a relative.
• Luo Xin gave jade to Liu Le and Liu Ying and told Lü Zhi and Lü Taigong that Liu Bang and Luo Yi had gone west together after attending the feudal lords’ alliance gathering.
• Luo Xin praised Liu Bang’s growing reputation and predicted that Lü Zhi would regain an honored status after Qin’s fall.
• Lü Taigong argued that rulers needed the Luo Clan’s support to achieve lasting success, prompting Luo Xin to regard him with new respect.

Fusu’s reforms and generous enfeoffments strengthened Qin’s position, while Zhang Han’s victory over Chu and Zhao brought him promises of greater rewards. After Xiang Liang’s death, Luo Ling commanded the allied armies, and Xiang Yu mourned his uncle before emerging to find Luo Ling kneeling in the courtyard.

• Fusu reviewed the benefits of easing Qin’s laws and halting major construction, then received Zhang Han’s report that Xiang Liang was gravely wounded and the Zhao rebels were fleeing.
• Fusu promised Zhang Han half of Zhao State and the title of King of Zhao if he continued winning, then ordered reinforcements drawn from Guanzhong.
• Luo Ling took command of the Chu and Zhao armies after Xiang Liang’s death, and both sides settled into a standoff as they awaited reinforcements.
• Zhang Han and Ziying discussed Fusu’s rewards, and Zhang Han vowed to repay the emperor by defeating King of Zhao Xie.
• Xiang Yu mourned Xiang Liang before his spirit tablet, swore to avenge him and destroy Qin, then left and saw Luo Ling kneeling in the courtyard.

After Xiang Liang’s death, Luo Ling backed Xiang Yu as the new Duke of Chu, and Xiang Yu rallied Chu’s nobles to prepare for another fight against Zhang Han. Luo Ling coordinated the Feudal Lords’ attacks on Zhang Han’s supply routes to force a decisive battle, while Zhang Han struggled to understand their strategy and began striking back.

• Luo Ling pledged his support to Xiang Yu and urged him to lead the fight against Qin State.
• Luo Ling announced that Xiang Liang had entrusted Xiang Yu with succeeding as Xiang Clan Head, and the Chu nobles bowed to recognize him as Duke of Chu.
• Xiang Yu rallied the grieving nobles, declared that Chu would fight again, and appointed Long Ju as his deputy against Zhang Han.
• Xiang Yu explained that a decisive battle required cutting off Zhang Han’s supplies and reinforcements, while Luo Ling confirmed that the Feudal Lords had begun harassing his routes.
• Zhang Han grew wary as the supply raids mounted, then organized attacks against the Feudal Lords while Luo Ling’s plan continued to advance.

Luo Cai reunited with Luo Yi and introduced Han Xin as an unrivaled military talent, whom Luo Yi tested before agreeing to recommend him to Liu Bang. The chapter left Han Xin poised to join Liu Bang’s faction.

• Luo Cai teased Han Xin during their journey and praised his military talent.
• Luo Cai caught up with Luo Yi’s army, reunited with her brother, and met Liu Bang and his followers.
• Luo Cai explained how she had found Han Xin and urged Luo Yi to recommend him to Liu Bang.
• Luo Yi tested Han Xin, finding his political ability poor but his military insight exceptional.
• Luo Yi praised Han Xin as a worthy who could help Liu Bang destroy Qin and agreed to recommend him.

Luo Yi urged Liu Bang to recognize Han Xin as a peerless commander, and Han Xin warned that a rushed invasion of Guanzhong would exhaust Liu Bang’s army and leave him unable to hold the territory. Liu Bang appointed Han Xin Great General and placed the army under his command.

• Luo Yi praised Han Xin to Liu Bang and said he was indispensable to becoming King of Guanzhong.
• Han Xin told Luo Cai that he had chosen to serve Liu Bang because of the Luo Clan and asked her to take him to Luo Ling if Liu Bang rejected him.
• Luo Cai promised Han Xin that she would help him find a place to use his talents if Liu Bang failed to entrust him with important duties.
• Han Xin warned Liu Bang that his rapidly expanded army was poorly prepared and that fighting through Wu Pass and Lantian would leave him vulnerable to the other feudal lords.
• Liu Bang accepted Han Xin’s analysis, appointed him Great General, and gave him command of the troops outside his personal guard.

Han Xin took command of Liu Bang’s army in Nanyang, trained and expanded its forces, and prepared an ambush for Meng Tian at Xinyang. The Fengpei generals came to accept Han Xin’s authority and pledged to follow his plan as Meng Tian advanced.

• Liu Bang appointed Han Xin commander before the army, prompting resentment among his Fengpei followers until Xiao He and Luo Yi helped secure their acceptance.
• Han Xin reorganized and expanded the army, explaining that his training could make recruits disciplined, and proposed a campaign to defeat or drive off Meng Tian.
• After Liu Bang’s victories in Nanyang, Han Xin studied the region and chose Xinyang as the site for layered ambushes against Meng Tian’s approaching army.
• Han Xin recognized the military talent among Liu Bang’s Pei County followers and welcomed the generals’ ability to command detached forces.
• Xiao He urged Zhou Bo, Fan Kuai, and the other generals to set aside their prejudice, and they visited Han Xin and promised to cooperate.
• Han Xin presented his strategy against Meng Tian, winning the generals’ respect and obedience.

Fusu gave Zhang Han authority over Shandong’s military and state affairs, and Zhang Han drew the feudal armies into a campaign around Handan. Xiang Yu routed the Qin force sent against him and then led his Chu army north to attack Zhang Han.

• After defeating Xiang Liang, Zhang Han urged Fusu to let him subdue Shandong, and Fusu appointed him Grand Commandant with the Qin Emperor Sword and authority over the region.
• When Lü Qian, King of Jiaodong, was defeated, Luo Ling ordered Cheng, King of Qi, to take in his scattered troops and chose him to bait Zhang Han into Handan Commandery.
• Zhang Han besieged Lü Cheng, King of Qi, near Handan while Luo Ling sent Xiang Yu and thirty thousand Chu troops to relieve him.
• Xiang Yu led the Chu Army across the Zhang River, routed Bai Li’s force, killed Bai Li and Ziying, King of Xingyang, and drove Wang Li to suicide.
• After defeating the Qin army, Xiang Yu led his troops north toward Handan to attack Zhang Han.

Xiang Yu routed Zhang Han’s Qin army at Handan, killing commanders and breaking the camps until Zhang Han withdrew toward Xingyang. After the Feudal Lords witnessed Xiang Yu’s victory, they knelt and acclaimed him their common sovereign.

• Xiang Yu defeated Wang Li’s forces, and Luo Ling mobilized the Feudal Lords to encircle Zhang Han.
• Zhang Han regrouped his army and defeated the Qi forces and King Jiu of Wei, while the Feudal Lords struggled to carry out Luo Ling’s plan.
• Xiang Yu led the Chu Army into battle, broke through Zhang Han’s linked camps, and killed the King of Pingyao and other Qin commanders.
• The Feudal Lords joined the fighting as Zhang Han withdrew his central army toward Xingyang, leaving the Qin forces devastated.
• The Feudal Lords knelt before Xiang Yu and acclaimed him their common sovereign.

After Xiang Yu crushed the Qin armies, Liu Bang’s forces used Han Xin’s strategy to seize Wu Pass and enter Guanzhong. They then prepared to strike the Lantian Camp, leaving Fusu’s rule close to its decisive confrontation.

• Luo Ling recognized Xiang Yu’s ambition and compared his domineering nature to the First Emperor after Xiang Yu refused to consider the war finished.
• Han Xin defeated Meng Tian’s army, and Liu Bang’s commanders praised his victory while discussing the threat posed by Xiang Yu’s advance.
• Fusu received reports of Zhang Han’s and Meng Tian’s defeats, mourned Qin’s decline, and ordered his generals to hold or retreat to Hangu Pass.
• Han Xin sent a feint toward Luoyang and led Liu Bang’s elite troops in a secret attack that captured Wu Pass at heavy cost.
• Liu Bang decided to move quickly toward Xianyang and confront the Lantian Camp before news of Wu Pass’s fall could reach Fusu.

Han Xin defeated the Qin army at Lantian, allowing Liu Bang to enter Xianyang after Fusu surrendered Guanzhong. Fusu later died by suicide, while Liu Bang prepared to secure his rule as Xiang Yu and Luo Ling approached.

• Han Xin routed the Qin forces at Lantian, and Liu Bang’s generals urged him to enter Xianyang and become king.
• Xiao He argued that Liu Bang should spare Fusu, and Zhang Liang advised that a gentleman could be deceived through principle.
• Fusu rejected calls to defend Xianyang and surrendered the Qin seal, records, and registers to Liu Bang’s officials.
• Liu Bang refrained from taking the jade seal and told Fusu he would spare him, while warning that they might meet as enemies later.
• Liu Bang’s advisers warned him against indulging in Xianyang, and he returned his attention to the struggle for power.
• Fusu killed himself after asking Liu Bang to treat the people of Guanzhong well, and Liu Bang learned that Xiang Yu and Luo Ling were nearing the region.

Xiang Yu led the allied army through Hangu Pass and entered Guanzhong, where he maneuvered to deny Liu Bang control of the region and divide the feudal lords’ lands. Liu Bang attended Xiang Yu’s banquet cautiously as Xiang Yu laid out a plan to weaken the kings by redistributing their territories.

• Xiang Yu entered Hangu Pass after its Qin defenders surrendered, then led the allied army toward Xianyang while Luo Ling deferred to him.
• Xiang Yu resented Liu Bang for taking Xianyang and resolved to prevent him from ruling Guanzhong, while planning to reduce the power of his allies after distributing fiefs.
• Liu Bang brought Luo Yi and others to pay respects to Xiang Yu at a banquet, remaining wary of the feudal lords who opposed his becoming King of Guanzhong.
• Xiang Yu praised Liu Bang’s conquest of Guanzhong, then argued that restoring the old states would leave other heroes without land and proposed rebuilding Zhao City as Luo Ling’s fief.
• Xiang Yu privately planned to divide the states’ territories to set the kings against one another, while Liu Bang noticed several guests’ murderous hostility and grew more cautious.

Luo Ling explained that the Luo Clan would allow a struggle for power to produce a ruler while protecting All Xia, then crowned Xiang Yu as Sovereign of All Under Heaven. The chapter ended as Luo Ling and Xiang Yu arrived before the gathered schools and leaders in Xianyang for the Luo Clan’s next major undertaking.

• Luo Ling told Luo Yi that Liu Bang would become king in Guanzhong, but war would follow, and warned him to watch Liu Bang for any threat to the Luo Clan’s principles.
• After the Coalition of the Lords entered Xianyang, Xiang Yu and the Feudal Lords plundered the city and surrounding areas, while Liu Bang protected the population and gained renown.
• Luo Ling crowned Xiang Yu at the Heaven-Worship Ceremony, and Xiang Yu declared himself the Hegemon-King with the support of the assembled lords.
• Luo Ling gained 5,000 Fortune Points and increased Clan Prestige for placing the crown on Xiang Yu.
• Luo Ling and Xiang Yu arrived before the gathered leaders of the Hundred Schools, who awaited the Luo Clan’s purpose for convening them in Xianyang.

Luo Ling addressed Xiang Yu and the Hundred Schools, arguing that Qin Law had ruined the Qin Dynasty and that the School of Punishment threatened All Xia. He laid out four crimes of the school and left the assembly considering his case against it.

• Luo Ling summoned the Hundred Schools and explained that Qin Law’s harshness had turned the people against the Qin Dynasty.
• Luo Ling asked Xiang Yu whether he would govern with the School of Punishment, and Xiang Yu rejected it.
• Luo Ling warned that later rulers might revive the School of Punishment under another school’s name, prompting the Hundred Schools to grasp his purpose.
• When the Xunzi-lineage Confucians asked how the School of Punishment would be identified, Luo Ling declared that Qin Law endangered All Xia.
• Luo Ling accused the School of Punishment of keeping people ignorant, impoverishing them, destroying social bonds, and restricting their movement and loyalty to their states.

Luo Ling condemned the School of Punishment and rallied the Hundred Schools and feudal lords behind rejecting its coercive doctrines. He then announced that rebuilding Zhao City would bring back the Hall of Sages, leaving its restoration as the next step.

• Luo Ling called for the School of Punishment to be discarded and framed it as a threat to the people.
• The Mengzi School praised Luo Ling, and the Huang-Lao Daoist and Confucian schools joined in as the hall’s scholars and historians recorded the gathering.
• Luo Ling’s speech stirred the feudal lords, while Xiang Yu struggled to grasp its political meaning.
• Luo Ling waited for the hall to quiet, then announced that the sages’ statues had been preserved and that rebuilding Zhao City would revive the Hall of Sages.

Luo Ling secured Xiang Yu’s support to rebuild the Hall of Sages and abolish the School of Punishment, then went to Zhao City to formalize the covenant. During a sacrifice to the Sage King, divine stone steles appeared bearing his words, and the gathered lords and scholars witnessed the miracle.

• Luo Ling proposed rebuilding the Hall of Sages, recording the covenant against the School of Punishment on a stele in Zhao City, and remaining there in seclusion.
• Xiang Yu agreed to bear witness and offered Qin’s treasures to support the reconstruction, then asked to enfeoff the Feudal Lords in Zhao City, which Luo Ling permitted.
• Luo Ling and the assembled leaders traveled to Zhao City, where Liu Bang reflected on the difference between the Luo Clan’s aims and his own.
• At Zhao City’s Ancestral Temple, Luo Ling sacrificed to the Sage King and asked for divine stone to preserve the deeds of tyrants and worthy rulers.
• Steles descended around the altar bearing the words Luo Ling had spoken, and Xiang Yu, Liu Bang, and the gathered crowd knelt and acclaimed the Sage King as Luo Ling declared the School of Punishment extinguished.

Xiang Yu enfeoffed the Feudal Lords in Zhao City, prompting protests over his division of territory, while Luo Ling advised Lü Cheng and Liu Bang on the dangers and politics ahead. After explaining that he would withdraw from public view without abandoning his influence, Luo Ling heard that Luo Yi had an official matter about Han Xin and Luo Cai to report.

• Xiang Yu claimed Heaven's sanction for his rule and began granting lands and noble ranks to the Feudal Lords.
• Lü Cheng protested that Xiang Yu had denied Qi State land south of Linzi, but Xiang Yu defended the division and Lü Cheng sat down.
• Lü Cheng told Luo Ling he would not obey Xiang Yu, and Luo Ling urged him to send his eldest legitimate son to Zhao City and protect his life.
• Luo Ling told Liu Bang that a King was an ally of the Son of Heaven, while a Duke was a guest and a Marquis a subject, clarifying when Liu Bang could oppose Xiang Yu.
• Luo Ling told Luo Yi he would remain in Zhao City but leave if events affecting all under heaven demanded it, and Luo Yi prepared to report on Han Xin and Luo Cai.

Luo Ling questioned Han Xin about his relationship with Luo Cai and tested his character before accepting him into the Luo Clan. He gave Han Xin the courtesy name Han Zimu as Luo Cai and Luo Yi prepared to leave Zhao City.

• Luo Yi told Luo Ling that Han Xin and Luo Cai were close, prompting Luo Ling to summon Han Xin and ask about his looks and character.
• Luo Cai joined Luo Yi and Han Xin on their visit to Luo Ling, and Han Xin arrived worried that he had brought no gifts.
• Luo Ling questioned Han Xin about his past and warned him that he must remain faithful to Luo Cai, even as she grew older.
• Han Xin vowed he would never betray Luo Cai, and Luo Ling accepted him by bestowing the courtesy name Mu, making him Han Zimu.
• As Luo Cai and Luo Yi prepared to leave Zhao City with Liu Bang's army, Luo Ling gave Han Xin a military strategy scroll and encouraged him to study and pass on his military knowledge.